A devoted family woman has died after living with cancer for more than a decade.

Jane Burns continued to live life to the full despite being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002.

The grandmother underwent gruelling treatment, but in 2010 was given the devastating news that her cancer had returned and was now not curable.

Jane, 61, of Forest Hall, North Tyneside, knew she was living on borrowed time but managed to remain strong and positive.

Husband, David, 72, spoke of the admiration he had for his wife, who died last Monday in hospital surrounded by her loved ones. David, a retired supervisor, who was married to Jane for 24-years said: “All Jane’s family and friends loved her to bits and we will miss her terribly.

“Jane and I did everything together and I have some fantastic memories. The house will feel very empty without her.

“I always knew the day would come when she’d not be here, but because Jane was so positive I kept hoping that there would be a medical breakthrough.

“Jane always said to me that I had to be strong and she always kept positive, cramming as much as she could into the time she had left.

“People were amazed at how well she coped with her illness. I only hope that myself and the family have half as much courage and guts that she did.”

Jane, a retired health centre practice manager, began to notice something was wrong when she started to get lower back pain and her weight was dropping.

Following tests and examinations doctors revealed Jane’s cancer was very aggressive and there was extensive spread to her sternum, pelvis, ribs, pubic bone and right hip.

“To watch Jane go through what she went through was very difficult,” explained David.

Jane was a mum-of-two but her daughter Louise died nine years ago aged just 32 following complications with diabetes.

Jane had a varied career including being an office manager for a research company, a Fenwick’s consultant for a beauty company and a secretary for a histopathology lab at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary. She could speak several languages, was a keen horse rider and loved animals.

Once a week Jane would go to St Oswald’s Hospice in Gosforth, Newcastle, to help others in a similar situation cope the best they could with their illness.